She has been the center of attention recently and became the spokeswoman for the government of Andrej Babiš, a position that will always attract the attention of many opponents. How does the former TV presenter feel about it and what awaits her now? These are some of the topics she talked about it in an interview for Luxury Prague Life.
Thanks a lot. Well, I'm happy about it, it's a challenge, I'm still looking around, though.
The offer came to me and it was quite a pleasant surprise.
I don't think my Slovak origin played a role in it. In my opinion, the Prime Minister didn’t even realize it much, if at all. We only knew each other briefly.
To tell you the truth, it was the fact that I had the opportunity to return to the screens as a host, and especially as a host of the Home Alone show, that troubled me the most when making the decision. Working on TV was fulfilling for me, and since I’d been a presenter for most of my professional life, I dare say that I knew my ropes, felt very knowledgeable at my job and believed I was putting out great work. But I still only got to host a show once in a fortnight, which wasn’t enough, while the new position offered a different schedule.
At the same time, it was clear to me that this was an offer that couldn’t be refused unless I wanted to risk that I would regret it one day. Of course, I had to ask my family for their agreement and support. Because my children also have a rather challenging out-of-school program and they had to stop counting on me as the family driver in the future. Fortunately, with the help of my husband and my parents, we were able to sort this out quickly.
I’ve considered it as one of my possible career paths, but only hypothetically. I've never been thinking about a particular possibility though, until now.
The reactions of the people around me are 95 percent positive. Even the reactions from larger surroundings that happen to reach me consist perhaps 70 percent of congratulations. Contrary to what you might read in the newspapers, I responded to 70 - 80 percent of congratulations and kind or encouraging messages. But that’s not an interesting topic to write about. And I understand that.
I don’t think I’d be doing it for anyone. I would have to feel comfortable with the person, at least on a basic level. Although a large part of my work is performed in front of a computer and with a cell phone in hand. Much more than with the Prime Minister, I have to communicate with journalists and colleagues in the press department. The Prime Minister is a workaholic and it is almost impossible to adapt to his pace. You can only try. And very often you have trouble catching up with him or catching him.
So far I’ve been mostly looking around. I’m trying to identify where to direct questions, or how to formulate answers. I have to get to know a lot of people with whom I may or will come into contact.
On this post, regular working hours are merely a formality, and I didn’t even care about specific times much. I know, and I've already had the chance to test it, the the actual time spent at work goes far beyond the agreed-upon schedule.
I haven’t been noticing much of that yet. If the day is not too heavy on the media “for me”, I dress informally, the way I am used to. And if there is a government meeting, after which a press conference follows, or an official event that I have to attend, then I will of course wear a dress and pumps. But that seems normal to me, I am used to the same thing from my previous position as a presenter, I don’t consider it a limitation.
As far as social networks are concerned, I don't use Instagram much, I prefer at least a tiny story to go with my photos, so Facebook seems to be more appropriate for me. And I don't think I would have to change anything fundamentally in this respect, I’ve never published anything I should be ashamed of.
That's hard to tell. There was always something that gave me nice memories. And one tends to reminiscence mostly the good things... I don’t think I am able to highlight one particular period. Wherever I was, I was glad to be there.
Before my first presenter gig on Nova - it was the News in Breakfast with Nova - I used to sing with a band in Germany and Austria for about a year and half, work as a news moderator at Radio Kiss, study at the FHS UK (Master's degree in the field of media) and I also worked as a "helper" in the main news on TV Nova.
But I really was a singer in my beginnings, although I was also interested in verbal and non-verbal communication. This brought me to presenting in the news, which, however, limited my singing options. I’ve returned to it only recently, in connection with the lyrics I write.
I am a great fan of the poetic texts of mister Borovec, Vrba, Knight, Pergner… What I hear today from the radio often makes my ears bleed. I can’t believe how much bad phrasing those songs have. It is probably because everyone is doing everything, and almost nobody values expertise today. Multifunctionality and price are what matters.
I write them for myself and my own needs. Although I don’t know if I’ll ever get to use them with my current profession. Primarily, I couldn’t imagine writing lyrics for other people. I’ve been writing them for myself and I put myself in them. The only text I’ve written on order was the one for the song „Láska se nám může stát“ from the movie "Summer with a Gentleman". But it wasn’t a typical job, the film was directed by my husband and I spent a lot of time over the script and watching the preparations, so I was familiar with it.
That never occurred to me. Not that I wouldn’t dare to try a minor role, I used to play theater, and I could do a decent job, especially after many years of working in the media. But my husband and me, we didn't want to give anyone a reason to start rumors about protectionism. Despite that, we didn’t manage to avoid them. Few people can imagine that getting a job on the radio as well as on TV Nova was something I succeeded at without my husband's knowledge.
He was as surprised as I was, but then he started to be happy. Just like me.
I think these these things are leading an internal battle in my husband. He would like to have both. And for a while it was like that. When I went on maternity leave, I already had a part of my career as a presenter behind me, and no one could take that away from me. Now our children have grown up a lot and what they need most is someone to cook for them and drive them to their hobbies. I’m not a great chef, my husband, my mum or a friend can all do a much better job there. And as a taxi driver I am also easily replaceable. What I find really important is that I can devote myself to my kids when I get back from work and they come home from their extracurricular activities.
My free time has always been connected with children. The only thing I enjoy independently from them is reading a book in the evening. Last summer, I managed to read twenty-two in two months.
I‘d like to say sleep and exercise. But it's never been easy for me to fall asleep. I can't get rid of the thoughts of the previous day or the next one. But since I started reading before bedtime, it's much better. The food supplement melatonin also works.
And I haven't been exercising lately either. It’s not so long ago that I couldn't even imagine a day without bikram yoga or pilates. Now I can only dream...
I don't know what complete happiness is. I think it's not that bad if something is missing in your life every now and then and it drives you forward. But I am happy, because I believe it’s good, when you learn how to feel happy despite possible shortcomings. I'm learning it.